sage of arms that marshalled on one side and on the other all the forces of the kingdom-sacerdotal, military, civil-which in their repeated collisions put the whole land into confusion and alarm, and which, after a battle of three centuries, has by no means come to a termination yet. Complicated and wonderful is that web: how deep and various its colours! What grand characters are woven into that national tapestry. There we see and almost fear to look upon the wily and implacable Catharine de' Medici; there we admire that sturdy old Protestant the Admiral Coligny; the Guises come stalking forth on the canvas, haughty and chivalric; proud of their blood, prouder still of their unstained orthodoxy. Mary Stuart we behold now in the lap of a refined sensualism, and now the centre of a Catholic plot designed for the destruction of Elizabeth and the overthrow of Protestantism. Here is Henry IV. perishing under a poniard which Jesuitism has plunged into his breast; and here is Louis XVI. dragged to the guillotine by the insensate fury of unbelief. That stately monarch has left a harlot's bosom to order a dragonade against his Protestant subjects; and that poor wizened Regent enjoys his debauch while he encourages scoffing the most shameless, and infidelity the most extreme. In one part of the picture you see the streets of Paris running with blood at the Catholic massacre of St. Bartholomew; in another part you see them polluted with the sanguinary Saturnalia of revolutionary Atheism. This monarch is Henry IV., who beat Popery on the field of battle, but yielding to the fascinations which it threw around a throne, bartered away his solemn convictions for a mistress and a crown. This monarch is Louis XVI., the only prince of a long series who was really good and pious, and he perishes for the vices of the religion he serves, and the evils accumulated by ancestors with whom he has no sympathy. In the mazes of that picture there is a unity. Numerous and diverse as the pretences are, two conflicting aims are steadily pursued. All those brooks, rivulets and streams, intersect each other though they do, and various as are the directions in which they seem to run, in reality make their way into two single streams, and these streams seek the ocean towards opposite points of the compass. One hastens to the north,-it is the stream of mental independence; another hastens to the south,-it is the stream of mental servitude. Of the former the philosopher is the self-elected symbol, but its real guardian is the Gospel; the latter is represented by the priest and defended by the soldier. The two powers are in direct antagonism. For more than three hundred years they have been engaged in conflict, and at this moment the battle rages more fiercely than ever. France is a country of extremes. Its fickle Celtic blood hurries up and down the tube, now resting at fever heat, now sinking below zero. Till recently the latter had been its position for more than half a century. Under the repeated blows of Philophism religion seemed dead in France; dead and buried did it seem; utterly perished, past all hope of revival. The only faith was faith in Voltaire; the only belief was disbelief. Men were sure of nothing except that there was nothing to be sure of. Extinct was all zeal save the zeal for extinction. Religion was not only disowned, it was scorned, laughed at, spit upon. Religion was a token of imbecility, and a topic of impious jesting. Disproved by argument and outfaced by wit, it was scouted as an open cheat or a thinly veiled hypocrisy. Such was the Frenchman's view of religion, the view of those who set the fashion in the world of thought and speech. The curtain falls;-in a moment the stage-bell rings, and as the curtain ascends you wonderingly behold a temple where you had seen the hall of a club, and there men are on their knees at worship, where a little before your tearful eyes beheld the orgies of infidelity. What a transformation! Is this worship real? Will that adoration last? will it come to good? These are questions on which some light may be thrown in the course of this essay. First, however, let us make a true report of what we see. The material forces of Romanism in France are apparently very great. Let us recount and measure them. Speaking in general terms, France may be called a Catholic country. Protestants there are in the land, and among them exclusively may real religion find a home. Equally may it be true that the Catholicism of Catholic France may be little better than the thin coating of ice which you see on the surface of the water in some calm morning of early winter. Nevertheless, in courtesy at least, France must be termed a Catholic country. In religious statistics such is her designation. Being Catholic, she has of course a Catholic clergy. That clergy before the revolution drew their support from the soil, to onetenth of the produce of which they had a right, similar to the right of the king to his royalty, and the lord to his rent. Tithes swept away by the revolution left the clergy independent of the state. But independence was not the parent of wealth, and therefore the clergy were ready to receive the annual bounty of the state when Bonaparte saw reason to think that policy required they should be taken into his pay. Since then the clergy appear in the Budget, like the police or any other state officials, and receive a yearly vote of 42,111,050 francs. The franc is tenpence of but as the worth of a thing is that which it our money; 6 will bring,' so ten-pence in France is equal to more than a shilling in England. If then we reckon francs as shillings, we find the annual vote for the clergy to amount to more than 2,100,0007. sterling. In We must also advert to the enormous capital placed at the service of Romanism for the celebration of its worship. Eighty episcopal sees divide among them 240 diocesan edifices. France there are 37,013 parishes. Each parish has its church, and, for the most part, each church owes to the state its erection, its repair, and, when needful, its enlargement. An estimate has been made of the amount of this fixed capital; the interest has been added, and it is found that this second supply is much larger than the former. We must say a word of the incidental receipts of the French clergy. Means for a general estimate we do not possess. We must confine our remarks to the metropolis. Seventeen churches in Paris annually receive as perquisites from 120,000 to 150,000 francs each; fifteen churches each from 60,000 to 90,000; eight churches each 240,000. Consequently the Parisian churches in all draw from this source an annual income of about 5,000,000 francs, or 250,0007. Hence some idea may be formed of the sum received in fees throughout papal France. Let it be observed that this calculation does not include voluntary donations, gratuities, and douceurs. This huge amount of property is divided among 40,428 ecclesiastics, of whom 681 are canons, 175 vicars general, 64 bishops, 13 archbishops, 6 cardinals, 1 metropolitan archbishop. Besides this large and well marshalled army, volunteer forces, very numerous and in a high state of discipline, execute the will and promote the designs of the Papacy. There is not a considerable city but has several monasteries, several houses of relief under clerical influence, several male or female corporations. These establishments are vast seminaries which spread colonies over the whole surface of the country. Scarcely is there a village which has not one of these colonies. France is thus occupied as if by a vast military organisation. Carmelites, Benedictines, Trappists, Jesuits, Augustins, Visitandines, Ursulins, Sisters of the Sacred Heartall the various religious orders of the Roman church, have spread over France like the vermin in Egypt. In order to give a precise idea of the organisation and of the mode of operation of these large forces, we shall indicate the principal religious establishments, whence proceed those swarms of nuns and friars who carry out on all sides the doctrine and the influence of Popery. In this list we include not monasteries; they will come afterwards. Our list, it will have been seen, is incomplete. The number of establishments of several orders we have not been able to ascertain. Of some the numbers are great: for instance, 'The Work of the Good Shepherd' has establishments everywhere. At least 500 may be added to our total, making 3000 nunneries or insti tutions of female ecclesiastics in France. Equally unable are we to report the number of members in each of these 3000 establishments. The number is considerable. There are 500 Sisters of the Trinity; there are 400 Sisters of the Holy Sacrament;' there are 1000 Sisters of the Presentation.' If we assign on an average 20 members to each house, we have then another corps d'armée of 60,000 nuns. Yet our list does not include the capital. At Paris we find Sisters of our Lady de Bon-Secours. Infirmerie Marie-Therèse. Sisters of the Sacred-Heart. Sisters of St. Michel. Sisters of St. Thomas de Villeneuve. Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul. At least there are 30 convents in the capital. Of one order alone, namely that of Vincent-de-Paul, there are more than 500 members. If we now refer to ecclesiastics of the other sex, we need, for the metropolis, go no farther than the General Institute of the Brothers of Christian Doctrine,' members of which cover the face of the land. The number of monasteries in France is reported at 565; multiplying this number by 20, as the probable number of individuals in each house, we obtain 11,300 monks in France. Our materials supply the following summary of The Forces of the Papacy in France. 83 Diocesan Seminaries. 1 Adjoint Seminary. 1 Metropolitan. 188 Ecclesiastical Colleges. 16 Houses of Retreat. 565 Monasteries. 1,012 Pensionnats for Young Ladies. 939 Alms-Houses and Infirmaries. 3,379 Colonies of Nuns. 765 Monkish Schools. 48 Home Missionary Colleges. 40,428 Priests, including Bishops, &c. 60,000 Nuns. 11,300 Monks. 37,013 Parishes and Parish Churches. 80 Episcopal Sees. 240 Diocesan Edifices. 250,000l. Fees in Paris. 2,100,000l. Annual Grant to the Clergy. |